The Backs of Great Men
by Bonsoir
Summary: In opening up her heart and home, Kaoru had unknowingly thrown Yahiko in the path of great men. (Yahiko and the men who had an influence in his life.)


**Title:** The Backs of Great Men  
**Characters:** Yahiko, Kenshin, Sanosuke, Aoshi, Saitou, and Kaoru  
**Genre:** Gen  
**Words:** 813  
**Notes: **This is meta as heck. Basically, I know the canon refers specifically to Kenshin and Sanosuke when they talk about the men who influence Yahiko's life, but I think he really learned a lot from Aoshi and Saitou, too, so they get spots in this little story.

* * *

i.

In the quieter moments of his life, Myojin Yahiko counted himself lucky. He wasn't sure if he believed in fate or destiny, so that left only luck; he was a lucky guy. Not many children were as fortunate as he had been. Of all the people he could have tried to pickpocket on the street, one crazy day he had picked Kenshin.

And that had led to Kaoru, and a home, and then, one by one, acquaintances and friends and a second family.

The older he became, the more grateful he felt toward the people who had become such an intricate part of his existence. Kaoru had seen him trained to the best of her ability in the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu and she saw him educated. As often as he teased her, he could admit to himself now and then that she meant a lot to him—more than just a teacher and friend.

She was family, really, like Kenshin was.

It wasn't just Kaoru's hospitability that Yahiko was grateful for; she had opened up her heart and her home, and in doing so had thrown him unknowingly into the path of a number of great men.

ii.

Kenshin was a man to be admired; that much was obvious to Yahiko right away. His mannerisms were gentle, but he was one of the first people to treat Yahiko as he wanted to be treated: like a living, breathing human being, and not a child or trash.

From Kenshin he learned compassion—for the weak, for the less fortunate, for mankind. In the end, he supposed that was why Kenshin liked Kaoru so much; they shared a lot of the same ideals.

Compassion was not a weakness; it was strength. Sometimes, to care about the plight of your enemy was more difficult than to ignore it. It wasn't until after Seijuro Hiko's arrival at the Aoi-ya that Yahiko understood how Kenshin had come to believe such things.

iii.

Sanosuke was a short-lived figure in Yahiko's life: he stayed for a year or so, and then left to travel the world.

It was funny how much wisdom Sanosuke managed to impart in the amount of time he was around.

If a person had a goal, they had to work hard to reach it. It was really that simple, but Yahiko supposed it made sense. Sanosuke struggled with his pride, and struggled with feeling weak and useless, but he had worked to be a better fighter and a better man, and in the end he had been successful.

iv.

Shinomori Aoshi was not a permanent fixture in Yahiko's life, either, but he did see him on occasion. Misao only came to visit on rare occasions, and it was rarer still for Aoshi to come with her.

Not only did watching Aoshi allow him to see the pitfalls in life that were avoidable, but it helped him see Kenshin's compassion in action. After the debacle at Kanryuu's mansion, Yahiko thought that a man like Aoshi was irredeemable; this opinion was only cemented further when he attacked Okina and threatened everyone at the Aoi-ya. When it was over, he realized that even though Aoshi had _seemed_ irredeemable, humanity still remained in him; he could easily have killed all of them if he'd really wanted to, but he hadn't.

Kenshin had seen that humanity, and not only had he felt compassion for Misao, but for Aoshi, too.

Seeing Aoshi on the road to recovery had given Yahiko living, breathing _proof_ that Kenshin's compassionate ideals were legitimate, that an opponent was still a man, and compassion was never wasted.

But Aoshi had patience in spades; this was something Yahiko didn't realize until several years later, when he reflected back on Misao's incessant chattering and even his own stupid questions. Aoshi never rebuked either of them for their curiosity or their energy; he simply listened, and when answers were required, he gave them in the same way Kenshin did: as if speaking to an equal.

v.

Maybe it was silly to look to Saitou as any sort of role model, but Yahiko distinctly remembered learning teamwork from him.

Sure, the man was annoying and rude and completely full of himself, and yes, he went into battle and used other people for his own motivations, but he was never so arrogant that he refused assistance when it was the best option.

Yahiko supposed it was a balance between having confidence in oneself and in relying on others.

vi.

Yahiko had taken on a little of each of them: Kenshin's compassion and Sanosuke's determination, Aoshi's patience and Saitou's pragmatism.

He remembered his amateur attempts to emulate the great men whose backs he had spent his childhood watching, whose shadows he had chased; at times, they had been laughable.

So it was surprising to realize, one day, that he had caught up to them.


End file.
